


Imprisoned: Part 1 - The Cellmate

by Alice_h



Series: A Secret Love [6]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, Imprisonment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 19:23:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19069081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_h/pseuds/Alice_h
Summary: Catra awakes to find herself imprisoned, and with only a hazy memory of the previous day. Things only get worse when she meets her cellmate.





	Imprisoned: Part 1 - The Cellmate

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely different to the rest of this little series. There's no interaction between Catra and Adora, and it's mostly Catra being manipulated. So it's totally OK to skip this and go on to the next part. I'll leave a brief summary at the start of that one so you don't get left behind.
> 
> Otherwise, this gets heavy, so enjoy!

Catra rubbed her face as she awoke. Her head pounded and the light entering her eyes was almost painful, despite not being particularly bright. Every part of her body ached, and she wasn’t sure why. Even so, for a few brief moments, she felt some amount of peace, but the unfamiliar surroundings flooded her brain with half-formed memories. Yesterday felt like a dream – or, more properly, a nightmare – and she couldn’t quite recall what happened. She remembered talking to Adora on the communicator, then Scorpia came in and she found out about her and Adora. Catra had a vague memory of threatening her, and then Rogelio had come in and-

No, that wasn’t it. Rogelio wasn’t there then, that was after. She’d seen them all and said something that she knew would make Adora worry, then they came in and she got knocked to the ground. The next part was very fuzzy. Catra remembered that she was dragged into Hordak’s lair, but she didn’t recall the journey there at all, not one bit.

Then there was the ‘conversation’, which Catra had a slight feeling mostly consisted of Hordak and Scorpia taking turns at shouting at her. Did something else happen then? A feeling of regret bloomed inside her, yet she had no knowledge of why. Catra remembered punching something, but she didn’t know what or why or even when. Just the idea that she had punched something or someone and a feeling of guilt about it. She tried hard to bring the next part of that thought to mind but drew a blank. After that. the next memory she had was being thrown in a cell which, Catra assumed, was where she had awoken. She didn’t even remember the end of the meeting with Hordak, so she wasn’t sure how long she was going to be here, or even why.

Slowly, she twisted her body into a sitting position on the bed. Across the cell another prisoner laid on their bed, covered up with the thin blanket that passed for heating in this place. The other prisoner stirred a little, stretching a covered arm.

“Just so you know,” Catra sneered, trying to make sure her cellmate knew their place, “I’m not your friend.”

Her cellmate chuckled to herself, and Catra instantly recognised the laugh.

“Catra…I think right about now, I’m your only friend.”

Catra slinked back and sat stiff against the wall, bringing her knees to her chest.

“Oh no, no,” her breathing became rapid, “They did not put me in here with Shadow Weaver. They did not, they did not, they did not.”

“Oh, but they did,” her cellmate rose to her feet, “And I think we need to talk.”

Shadow Weaver stepped towards Catra, who brought her knees in even tighter to her body.

“Catra, I’m not your enemy,” assured the sorceress as she stood over the nervous younger girl, “I’m the one who cares about you.”

“You don’t! You never did!” spluttered Catra.

“THAT IS A LIE!” Shadow Weaver roared, raising a hand in the air as if to slap her, before stopping herself and returning to her usual calm voice, “I always cared about you, Catra. I was the only one who did.”

Catra’s foot began to tremble. She looked down at it in disbelief, as though she were angry at it for showing weakness, “Adora cares about me.”

Shadow Weaver roared with laughter, “Oh Catra, you always were naïve. Adora doesn’t care about you, that’s why she left. Not like me, I stayed with you.”

“She loves me,” panted Catra, still trying to control her breathing, “We will be together, and it’ll be better than being here with you.”

“That won’t be so. Catra, you’re imprisoned here, you’re never going to see Adora again. It’s not worth her time coming to save you, so it’s just you and me now.”

Catra looked at the floor, her foot still shaking. It would be very difficult for Adora to rescue her, but she knew her girlfriend, and she knew she’d do everything she could.

“She’ll rescue me,” said Catra with determination, “And then you’ll be here all alone like the sad old woman you are.”

The sorceress shook with rage, and her hand balled into a fist, “Insolent child! How _dare_ you be so rude. I am trying to stop you from getting lost in a fantasy that will get you hurt, you would do well to show some respect. Now apologise.”

Silence surrounded them for a moment. Catra, still anxiously against the wall, felt Shadow Weaver’s anger and it made her think of her childhood. Time and time again, she would be on the receiving end of the same anger while Adora got away with everything.

“APOLOGISE!” shouted Shadow Weaver.

“I’m sorry,” Catra said quietly.

“For?” demanded the older woman.

“Being rude when you’re trying to help me,” mumbled Catra.

“Very well,” Shadow Weaver rubbed her mask with her hand, “Now, Catra, I know it’s not nice to find out that someone isn’t as perfect as you thought. But that doesn’t give you the right to take it out on me. Adora has all her friends out there, right? She’s not going to abandon them for you.”

“But... she’s my… my girlfriend,” Catra struggled to find the words to counter what Shadow Weaver was saying.

The sorceress laughed, “Adora doesn’t feel the same way about you, Catra. You’ve got this idea in your head about how much she loves you, but it’s not true. You’ve always been like that, falling in love with people so easily, when they don’t love you back. You’re a clever girl, Catra, you must know that it’s much easier for her to leave you here again.”

Catra lowered her knees from her chest. There were no lies in what Shadow Weaver was saying, she had been deeply in love with people who didn’t feel the same way before. Maybe Adora was just the same. Maybe she had ruined everything for what? For nothing? Tears formed in her eyes at the realisation and she wiped them away. Shadow Weaver took full advantage, sitting beside Catra and placing an arm around her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry Adora has done this to you again. It’s the type of person she is. Every time you get close, she ups and leaves. It’ll always be like that with her. But me, I’m the only one you can trust now. I won’t abandon you like she did.”

Shadow Weaver’s words and the feeling of her arm around her were oddly comforting, and Catra desperately needed the comfort. She leaned against the sorceress’ arm, sniffling as she reflected upon what she’d heard. It’s true that Adora had abandoned her twice now, and it was true that Shadow Weaver had never done that. Maybe Adora really wasn’t coming back for her. Was she even thinking about her now? After all, she wasn’t there so why would Adora even give her a second thought? She had a much better life with all the princesses. Adora didn’t need her. Definitely not like she needed Adora.

“It’s just us now, Catra,” Shadow Weaver emphasised her point, “And we have to trust each other if we’re going to get out of here. Can you do that for me?”

Catra looked up and nodded, “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Very good, we-“ Shadow Weaver interrupted herself after noticing the figure standing outside the cell with two trays of meagre rations. Catra looked up and recognised who was bringing their food.

“Lonnie, I-“ she began.

“Silence, prisoner,” Lonnie replied coldly, tapping on the keypad to open up a small slot in the force field holding them.

“Please,” Catra ran up to the edge of the cell and pleaded, “I just need to know what happened. I don’t remember anything, I…”

Lonnie slid the trays across the floor into the cell and turned to leave without saying a word.

“ _Please,”_ sobbed Catra.

The dreadlocked girl stopped and turned back, with a look of fury on her face.

“You want to know what happened? Here’s what happened. You are a traitor to the Horde, and we did what we had to. _You_ were the one who started going crazy shouting at Scorpia. _You_ were the one who we had to drag to see Hordak. And _you_ were the one who lashed out at all of us. _You_ were the one we had to sedate to get you in here. You see this?” she extended her arm, revealing a series of deep scratches, “ _You_ did that. _That’s_ what happened. I hope you rot away and die in here and I hope it happens soon.”

She stomped off without waiting for any sort of reaction.  Catra fell to her knees, staring straight ahead whilst tears rolled down her face. The person Lonnie had described…how could that have been her? And attacking people, was she-

“No!” Catra yelled. A memory of clawing at Lonnie flashed in front of her, and there was a rush of the same feeling of anger, causing her to clench her fists and grit her teeth. It was followed by intense regret as the memory turned to the image of Lonnie stumbling backwards as blood seeped out from the wounds. Catra didn’t want this to be her. It couldn’t be. She wouldn’t do that.

“Catra?” Shadow Weaver’s voice startled her back into the room. The younger girl tried to get to her feet, but they wouldn’t support her. She collapsed and fell into the sorceress’ grasp.

“You see, this is why you should let Adora go,” said Shadow Weaver softly, stroking Catra’s hair, “You wouldn’t want to do that to her as well. You’re just too unstable to ever love someone, isn’t that right?”

Catra couldn’t talk through the tears, but instead nodded. She loved Adora, but Shadow Weaver had made her see that it would never work. Between her inability to control herself and Adora caring more about her Princess friends, Catra felt that she would only cause a problem if, by some chance, she could ever see Adora again.

“I feel so lost…and tired,” she sniffled.

The sorceress smiled gently, “Why don’t you have a nap? You barely slept last night. We can work out what we’re going to do later.”

“Mh, okay,” agreed Catra, as she lay back on her bed. Even though she’d not been up very long, she was already physically and emotionally exhausted, and sleep soon set in. She became lost in a pleasant dream where the last few months had never happened, and she was happily spending her time with Adora.

It wasn’t to last, as she was awoken by the sound of another food delivery clattering across the floor. Catra jumped to her feet.

“Wh…what? How long was I…?”

“Not long enough,” snarled Lonnie from outside.

“A good few hours,” comforted Shadow Weaver, “How do you feel?”

Catra rubbed her eyes and she sat back down on her bed, “Still exhausted.”

“Enjoy your meal,” scoffed Lonnie, “Or don’t. I don’t ca-“

Her sentence was interrupted as she was knocked to the ground by a white blur, which then stood stationary in front of the cell.

“Hey Catra. I’m here to rescue you.”


End file.
